TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A University of Arizona team just scored a perfect touchdown—-from millions of miles in space
The Osiris Rex space mission funded by NASA but led by University of Arizona successfully landed a sample of an asteroid in a special landing zone in Utah.
UA designed the mission to capture a sample of the asteroid Bennu and bring it to Earth for study. Scientists believe material from asteroids may help reveal how the solar system—and even life—formed.
As Principal Investigator UA Planetary Scientist Dante Lauretta led the mission, He says he thought about 15 years of effort would end up smashed in the desert when there was a delay in confirming the parachute opened.
“But then within minutes you know, Jasmine said, ‘main chute’, and I was like, that's, that's when I just emotionally just let it go. You know, tears were streaming down my eyes. I was like, okay, that's the only thing I needed to hear from this point on. We know what to do. We're safe. We're home. We did it.”
Lauretta was one of a small group that examined the capsule where it landed before helicopter crews carried it to a temporary clean room at the Department of Defense Utah Test Range. There, technicians prepped it to move to the lab NASA’s used to examine moon rocks from the Apollo landing.
In Tucson, near 6th and Drachman, UA’s Michael Drake building honors the professor who was the principal investigator of the Osiris Rex mission but died while planning was still in its early stages.
Just a sample of the many people who’ve worked on the mission gathered at the building to watch the NASA feed of the landing.
Carina Bennett remembers when she heard the sample capsule was safely on the ground.
It did.
“Honestly, I teared up a little bit. I was tearing up this whole week just thinking about what those words sound like and then just to hear it. It was really incredible. And I'm so happy to be here with members of the team past and present. It's been a really special experience.
From getting a go for the mission, to launch, to return, the mission has lasted almost 15 years. Carina Bennett joined as a student and worked her way to manage the software for the project. She’s part of the large community of people that has sunk roots in nearby neighborhoods and across Tucson.
University of Arizona likes to compare the impact of the University’s space programs to the economic power of a Super Bowl with all the associated spending adding 580 Million dollars to the local economy each year.
Doctor Jessica Barnes will head to Houston to help divide the samples. She’ll have her own look at UA’s share of what Osiris Rex brought back.
“It's very humbling, you know, not many people get to handle these particles. Not many people get to work with them. Um, so it's definitely humbling. It's something that's just really exciting. I mean, you're part of history when you're working on these types of missions.”
Dante Lauretta says he’s enjoyed using the coolness of the Osiris Rex mission to raise interest in science in very young kids, and in UA students.
“I also teach undergraduate and graduate students, and so many of them said, ‘We are here because of Osiris Rex. We came to Tucson because the Osiris Rex mission was based here. And it was just an amazing example of what people can do when we put aside our differences and we focus on a common goal. We can achieve great things, this country can achieve great things, but we have to work together to make that happen.”
Lauretta says younger scientists he’s mentored will lead a new mission that will use the part of Osiris that stayed in space to examine another asteroid.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
